


It's not time appropriate behavior.

by WickedHeadache



Series: Time Travel For Morons [1]
Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: 1960s, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22945357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedHeadache/pseuds/WickedHeadache
Summary: That one time Leslie and Tina accidentally traveled back in time and adopted a child while they were at it.
Relationships: Leslie Dean/Tina Minoru
Series: Time Travel For Morons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649044
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo, this is what I do instead of working on the fics I have to update.
> 
> This is gonna be a series, with about three to four parts (I'll figure it out) And this is the first part. Enjoy!

“Shit,” Leslie muttered under her breath. “Shit! Shit, no, no, no.”

The realization of their current predicament was settling in. Leslie set her eyes where Pride was standing just seconds ago. The time machine Victor was working on was still in the middle of its development and, as interested Leslie could be in taking a peek to the past, she had no curiosity in staying stuck in 1960, Los Angeles with no way back.

It was midnight, and there wasn't a single soul outside in that zone of the city. There were a few apartment buildings around them and a bar about a block away. She thought she spotted a motel somewhere but she wasn't paying enough attention to be sure. It looked like the kind of place you would be murdered in.

“Calm down,” Tina said behind her. She had that tone that Leslie had learned to recognize as more irritated than panicked, but that was built to hide panic.

Leslie ignored her.

“We can't be here!” She cried out, eyes wide. “I gotta get back. Now!” She turned to Tina, and the woman almost seemed scared at the demand in Leslie's gaze, yet she was aware there was nothing she could do. “The mission, it's not over. Jonah.”

Now she was babbling nonsense.

“Jonah is still gonna be there when we get sent back,” Tina soothed, unintentionally, as she was holding back an eyeroll. “Time travel, remember? Stop with the panic, it's not an attractive color on you.”

“Do not tell me to calm down,” Leslie threw daggers at her. “You have no qualms of the severity of the situation.”

“Who is the scientist here again?” Tina retorted, a pinched look in her face. “Do you think I'm not aware that we could be stuck here forever? You think I don't know that the simplest, insignificant of our actions could unravel catastrophe? Losing your ground won't help the matters, Leslie. I hate to be the one saying this, but you've got to keep your sight in the bigger picture.”

Leslie clenched her jaw, but was otherwise calmed by Tina's words. “Then what do you suggest?” She half-snapped out. 

“They  _ need  _ us,” she emphasized her words, as if to get them through Leslie's head. “They will have to get us back, eventually.”

Leslie's eyes widened, and a calculating smile formed slowly in her lips. “Of course,” the whisper uttered was to herself. “Jonah won't allow this,” she asserted, voice stronger.

“Of course,” Tina mocked, but it went unheard. She rolled her eyes. Then, she heard somebody crying out. Leslie was too lost in thought to notice. “What was that?”

“Sorry?” Leslie glanced her way.

“A scream, didn't you hear?” Somebody cried out for the second time, and this time Leslie's head also turned towards the sound. “That doesn't sound good.”

“We should go see what's going on,” Leslie said. 

Tina stared at her like she had lost her mind. “I think what you meant was, if you hear a  _ scream _ in a place like this, you  _ run the other way! _ ” Tina whispered, because if she didn't, she would be shouting.

Leslie just grabbed her hand and, before Tina could object furthermore, she dragged her to the dark alley the cries were coming from. She sighed as she was manhandled. She supposed that Leslie was less likely of getting herself killed before Pride came for them if Tina was with her.

The idiots probably got the date wrong. She just hoped they arrived somewhen before she was fifty.

Leslie seemed blissfully unaware of that fact. She was always seemed so driven and strong-willed that sometimes she fooled Tina into forgetting that, for all her cunning, Leslie knew nothing about science, or physics, and even less about time travel. She probably was under the illusion that Pride wasn't there to get them because they hadn't figured out how back in their own time. 

What a dim-witted way of seeing the world. She sometimes forgot that other people's minds were simple like that. Time didn't work in that way, Tina chuckled at the idea of anybody thinking otherwise. Even if Pride hadn't known the first thing about time travel in their present, when they had originally been sent back in time, they would eventually crack it up forward in the timeline and come for them exactly when they left them.

Pride were also a bunch of morons that would probably mix up the dates and pick them up in the 1961 or 1980 instead of the 1960, which was when they seemed to be. But it might as well be the 50's and Tina would have no idea, if she was being honest with herself.

She groaned. She had known time travel would be a terrible idea to begin with, but did they listen? Of course they didn't. Jonah was too blinded with the idea of coming back in time that doing better all that could be bettered, even if it resulted in disaster between the timelines and blowing up the universe. Potentially. Her eyeroll was mild. She was going to kill them once she was back in 2009.

Leslie gasped, drawing Tina's gaze toward her, then forward to whatever had caused that reaction. They had reached the source of the crying. It wasn't anybody being stabbed to death, Tina noted with a gasp of her own. It was a baby. 

“Oh, my God,” she breathed out as Leslie let go of her hand and rushed to the baby crying in the cold ground. It was a girl with no more than a few days alive, if Tina had to take a guess.

Leslie took the baby into her arms, bringing her close to her chest. It was a chilly night and the baby didn't even have a diaper on. Leslie looked up to her then, a heartbroken expression in her face. Tina had to close her eyes because she knew that look all too well. She had seen it after the sacrifices, growing sadder with each victim. Lost was the victorious smile of the first ritual, and now Leslie just grieved.

That baby wasn't even dead and it had provoked that feeling within Leslie. Tina never understood how a person like Leslie ended wrapped in a mess like Pride when she couldn't look at a defenseless creature without deciding right then and there that she would protect it forever — or for as long as she was allowed to. She just didn't quite fit with the rest of them. They were stuck because they owed Jonah, but what favor had Jonah ever granted to Leslie?

“You poor baby,” Leslie muttered to the baby. “Who would do such a thing?”

Tina stared.

“Do you have any money?” Leslie asked her suddenly and Tina blinked out of the stupor. She checked her pockets.

“About three hundred dollars,” she answered. She gave no explanation as to why she carried around that money.

“Good, I've got nothing, and lord knows how long it'll be until Pride find us,” she said and gave her a once-over. “Take off your jacket.”

“Excuse me?”

“The baby's cold,” Leslie pressed with a scornful look. 

“Fine,” she sighed and did as she was told. She stepped forward and helped Leslie wrap the baby with the jacket as she could. It was impractical, but it would do. “I think we should find a hotel.”

“But- Pride-” Leslie was ready to get into an argument.

“Pride won't mind if we sleep in an actual bed,” she lifted a brow.

Leslie rubbed a hand across her face. “You are right,” she said, sounding like all the fight had left her and the exhaustion was finally taking over. “Let's go. I think I saw a motel sign somewhere around.”

Tina grimaced, but followed her lead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might be like "but she just posted the first chapter...?” and to answer that I'll say, I don't give a damn, sorry. I'm too anxious to wait when I have things written.

Tina grabbed the baby in her hands and stared into her blue eyes. The baby girl blinked at her, with all the innocence and cluelessness of a newborn. Tina admitted that she was adorable, and she had always had a soft spot for babies, so she couldn't be blamed for how close to herself she held her.

The baby was calmer than when they had found her, but if her memories of her own daughters served her well, it wouldn't be long until she began wailing with all the strength her little lungs could muster. They couldn't afford getting kicked out. Tina wouldn't doubt that the motel would if they made any mess or noise — she had seen the look they were given when they entered the motel. Two women with a baby, and one of them was Asian. And it was 1960.

“We should leave her in a hospital,” Tina said.

“What?” Leslie looked at her horrified.

“Or a church, that's where people left babies back in the day, right?” She regretted not asking any questions back when her mother was alive. Then she realized, it was 1960. She probably was alive now.

“We are not leaving her!” She said, indignant. “Orphanages and foster homes are terrible enough in the present, I don't even want to imagine how they are in the 60's.”

“Leslie…” She gave her a tired look. “What do you want me to say? It's not like we can just take her with us to 2009.”

“I…” She focused her gaze on the baby and sighed. “I don't know. We can… go to a hospital and get her checked out, maybe get her some clothes.”

“I don't think we can afford a hospital visit,” Tina frowned down to the baby with a sad smile. She reached for the pocket of the jacket wrapped around the baby and handed Leslie a twenty dollar bill. 

“Clothes and baby formula it is, then,” Leslie said. She leaned forward to kiss the baby's cheek. “I'll be right back.”

“Wait,” she stopped her on her tracks. “It's late and-” She went silent as her eyes widened. The baby let out a small wail and wrinkled her entire face. “Ugh, I forgot what a hell it is to have a baby.”

“What?” Leslie asked her.

“She just peed all over my coat,” she complained.

The corner of Leslie's lips quirked at that as she laughed. “I'll get diapers, too.”

“Yes, you do that,” she grimaced. The baby stared back at her like she was pure and could do no wrong. Tina stuck her tongue out at her, as childish as it was. “Let's get you all cleaned up.” She turned to Leslie again, and found smiling at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“You're smiling.”

The smile was quickly replaced with a frown. “Oh, was I? I didn't notice,” Leslie shook her head. “I'll be right back.”

“Wait, Leslie-” She tried to stop her, but Leslie was already outside. It was late, and they were in a lonely corner of Los Angeles in a different time than their own. The idea of Leslie going out alone just didn't sit well.

She shook those thoughts away. Leslie was a grown woman. She could handle herself.

After cleaning the baby up, Tina had put her back in the coat. She had already ruined it and she wasn't willing to risk her $2300 dress to another incident. It was so not appropriate for time travel. She rested the baby on the double bed with the ugly flower pattern sheets and she sat next to her. All they could do was wait, for Leslie and for Pride.

She was certain that woman had finally lost her mind. Leslie was technically kidnapping a child, and Tina was helping her with it!  _ Folie à deux _ , she concluded, and let out a deep sigh. They would have to, eventually, leave the baby  _ somewhere _ . Not with her parents, even though they had no idea who they were, anyway. A church or a hospital, those were the reasonable options she had helpfully pointed out to Leslie, but the woman seemed keen on keeping the little girl with them. She guessed that, once Pride came for them, Leslie would have to leave her. 

Tina glanced at the baby. Her eyes were half-closed, probably the toll of the day had caught up with her. Her heart broke a little bit right then because she knew Leslie's would when the time to leave arrived.

Stubborn woman, she mused to herself.

Leslie came back with a bag hanging from her arm and a tired expression. “We should get some time appropriate clothing,” she told Tina as a salute.

“Did you get everything?”

“Yes. You know, I would've thought this through more if I had known time travel would get me trapped in my own personal hell. I don't know if you're aware of this, but disposable diapers were invented in 1961.”

“Okay…” Tina looked in askance.

“We are in 1960,” Leslie said.

“Ah,” Tina's brows lifted.

“On the upside,” she added, a more excited look taking place. “I found a cute onesie for her.”

“At this hour?”

“There's always somewhere open,” she waved off and grabbed a diaper and the onesie from the bag. It had bears all over it. “Oh, she's asleep,” she advanced toward the sleeping figure. She sighed. “Remember when Karolina was this tiny?”

Tina blinked up in surprise. She didn't. Tina hadn't met her yet, and if she did, she hadn't found a baby remarkable enough to remember. Tina didn't say a word, just took the cloth diaper and maneuvered her way to put it on the baby without waking her up. She didn't risk it with the onesie.

“We should sleep,” she said. There was only one bed, and neither had exactly had the time to bring pajamas to their trip.

“Pride could arrive at any minute, Tina. Let's just wait a little more,” Leslie said. Tina opened her mouth to argue. “Please.”

She snapped her mouth closed. She had never heard Leslie said the word  _ please  _ in her whole life.

“Alright,” she said. Leslie exhaled and sat down on the other side of the baby. “I'm just saying, if they aren't here already, they probably won't suddenly appear in the next ten minutes. You're allowed to sleep, you look like shit.”

Leslie rolled her eyes. “Just indulge me, okay?”

“Okay,” she said softly, then laid back in the bed, hands over her stomach. The mattress was tough, and the pillows looked even harder. She took a glimpse to the rest of the room from her resting position.

The term  _ fleabags  _ came to mind.

She kept that thought to herself.

“What about the baby?” The question surged from the back of her mind. “When Pride gets here, you are going to have to leave her.”

She saw Leslie clenching her fists, and she could sense her mind working for an answer that was satisfactory. “What if I don't have to?” She replied. Tina was alarmed by the determination in her eyes.

“You aren't suggesting that we take a baby from the 1960's and bring her to the 21st century, are you?”

When faced with that response, Leslie hesitated. “I- I don't know.”

“Leslie… Sleep,” she commanded, though not harshly. “Tomorrow you'll be able to see this situation with bright new eyes. Hopefully, my eyes.”


	3. Chapter 3

It had been three days. Three days, and nothing, not even a glimpse of time travelers whatsoever. Three days, barely leaving the crappy motel room except for eating, carrying around a nameless, strange baby. Three days, and they only had left half of the money Tina had traveled with.

Leslie was resting on her side, eyes wide open. She couldn't sleep, not until Jonah came for her and she was home again with him, and Karolina, and the mission. She had a job to do and couldn't accomplish anything stuck in the past. Her father was probably a teenager, she thought, and her mother was reachable now, unlike in the present, when Leslie had no clue where she was.

She couldn't think like that, she snapped herself out of those toxic thoughts. To even insinuate the possibility of finding her years in the past, before Leslie was even born, was dangerous. Not only when it came to time paradoxes, but to the mission. She had to focus on the bigger picture. She didn't need her mother, she was doing so much good without her, with Jonah's guidance.

Being in the 60's was making her lose her mind.

Tina was letting out soft snorts in her sleep every now and then. She was facing her, resting in her stomach, hands on her sides. At least one of them was able to rest. The baby girl was scooped between them. Leslie had entertained herself awake with her the whole night. In the shortage of time they had found each other, that baby had managed to steal her heart with no more than a cute wink of those light blue eyes.

She caressed the tiny cheek with a finger. Leslie knew that eventually she'd have to leave her. She had been brainstorming for any solutions that allowed her to keep her, or at least find a suitable parent for her, but she had reached nowhere.

She refused to let a Catholic church take care of her. She did not trust Christians.

“What time is it?” A hoarse mumble came from Tina's lips. 

“Three in the morning,” Leslie muttered back at her.

Tina groaned a bit loudly and buried her face into the uncomfortable pillow. “Stop being awake, it's annoying.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can feel your anxiety, and it makes me want to punch you. Just go to sleep.”

“It's not that easy,” she argued.

“Just. Go.”

Leslie exhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a moment. She stayed still in silence, trying to cleanse her mind of any thoughts, when she remembered Jonah would come get them in any minute now.

“I haven't seen anything yet,” she said.

Tina grumbled. She turned her head enough to peek at Leslie with one eye. “Seen what?”

“Pride, who else?”

Tina turned her body until she was fully facing Leslie and sighed. “Leslie, what do you know about time travel?”

“Well, what everybody knows, right? You go to the past or to the future, and change things,” was her weary answer. Leslie was frowning at Tina. That was one silly question.

“I'll explain you the basics in the morning,” Tina said. “Now,  _ please _ , let me sleep.”

Leslie did. About an hour and a half later, she was woken up again, though by the baby's cries. Leslie lifted her in her arms and out of the bed at fast speed, and took care of it. Tina allowed herself, if just for a second before she fell asleep, to miss home.

That morning, after they were both wide awake, Tina had explained to Leslie why exactly Pride hadn't come to get them, yet. Leslie stared blankly at her for half a minute. Tina thought she had broken her.

“I wanna hit my head against a wall,” Leslie finally said.

“Please, don't,” Tina said with a tired tone. The baby was sleeping soundly and if any major noise was heard she would wake up.

“So we are stuck here for God knows how long until Pride, in sheer luck, finds a date we are in,” Leslie processed what Tina had explained out loud.

“Basically.”

“Which could be  _ any date _ ,” Leslie made a face that almost convinced Tina that she had gone crazy. “It could be 1974,” then she gasped. “Shit.”

“You are saying that word a lot lately,” Tina noted. “What's up in 74?”

“Could anything bad happen if I coexist in the same time with another version of myself?” She asked.

“I don't know,” she replied with a roll of her shoulders. “Why?”

“I was born in 1974,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “Well, I _will_ _be_ born in 1974.”

“Yeah, don't overthink it,” Tina shook her head. “It'll only give you a headache.”

“Wait. What happens till Pride finds us?”

“We...try to stay alive?” Tina suggested. “I don't know, Leslie. We'll figure it out, okay?”

Leslie nodded, deep in thought. “Okay.”


	4. Chapter 4

“All right, are you ready?” Victor looked around every face. Robert, Geoffrey and Janet were traveling with him this time. 

They were four failed trips in and Victor was beginning to develop a migraine. It's been years since Leslie and Tina disappeared, and Jonah was putting pressure on him to bring them back. They were important, for some reason. Either way, Victor was minutes away from strangling him every time he threatened him and his family when a trip didn't get the wanted results.

They had traveled in time, yes, just not whenever Leslie and Tina had dropped in. They were first starting searching in the closer time and places. 1913, 1794, 2005 and the years around them. They had researched for any Tina Minoru's and Leslie Dean's in the past, but found nothing on their names presiding 1978 and 1974 (their respective birth years). But they had found old pictures of their lookalikes dating back to those years, in Los Angeles, and every time they looked for them there, they came back empty-handed.

“There we go,” he adjusted the watch in his wrist. “1962.”

They held hands as they traveled through time and space. Victor let his eyes wander around their destination as his stomach turned upside down. He always got seasick with those things. He grimaced when he saw where they were. This was the shithole Leslie and Tina had dropped in.

He hoped they hadn't moved too far away from there since they got in 1962.

“Let's split. If you see them, send the signal through the watch. If you don't, come back here by midnight,” he said, as he did on every trip.

Little did he know that it wouldn't take too much work to find them.

“Is that Tina?” Robert said, eyes widened.

Victor directed his gaze to that way. A woman was leaving one of the apartment buildings around, dressed in black trousers that were molded to her hips and legs, yet not tight around them, and a dark green blouse. It was awfully time appropriate to be worn by a lady that had just traveled back in time, but when his eyes reached to her head, the resemblance was stunning. The black hair was tied back in a bun, and the woman also carried the same sharp features as the Tech Titan.

The only problem was, the woman was holding hands with a little girl.

“It can't be,” Victor replied.

“Are you blind?!” Robert stared at him like he had lost his mind. “That's her!”

“Then, explain to me, why is she with a little girl? Why does she look like she's from 1962?” Victor challenged. “Maybe because she  _ is  _ from 1962.”

Robert just shook his head and started rushing towards the woman. Victor grasped his arm firmly, stopping him on his tracks. Robert glared at him, but he raised his brows. It was a warning.

“Let me go,” he said.

“I allow you to travel with me because it is your wife we are looking for,” Victor said, voice so calm it was a threat. “That doesn't mean I'm gonna let you screw up the timeline with your thoughtlessness. We need to approach this with a cool head.”

“What do you suggest?” Geoffrey asked him.

“Not what this moron was about to do,” Victor pointed at Robert in exasperation. “What do you think it would happen if you went there, 5 foot 9 of stupidity and unadulterated 21st century, and told this strange woman from the 60's that she's your wife? Look, she's gone. Let's wait until she gets back here, and then you can talk to her.”

Robert sulked as the rest nodded along. They moved away from the middle of the street and stood in the sidewalk. As they kept watch for Tina, they spotted another woman entering the apartment building. She looked just like Leslie, except she was nothing like the cult leader they had met. She was dressed in a professional way, like a working woman in the 60's would, and for once, she wasn't wearing white exclusively. 

That couldn't be a coincidence, Victor thought. Two women, both identical to who they were looking for, entering the same apartment building. 

Not long after, Tina's lookalike arrived, still followed by the little girl of wild brunette curls. She was carrying a bag of groceries and the girl, who Victor assumed was around two years old, was making a mess of her hands and face with a piece of candy.

“I told you it was her,” Robert said and ran towards her.

By the time they had reached the apartment building, the woman was already inside. There only one thing left to do. They got inside and knocked on every door until they found the apartment the women had gotten in. Luckily, they had found it by the fifth door.

Victor heard a rush inside, somebody yelping and hitting the furniture, and a girl giggling in the background. A few seconds later, the door swung open. The woman behind it gaped at them, and it felt like the time had stopped.

They found them.

“Oh, my God,” Tina said in a whisper. “Leslie!” She called out. “They're here!”

Soon enough, Leslie walked out of a room and her eyes widened at the sight of them. The girl they had seen earlier was scooped up her hip, head resting on the woman's shoulder.

“You are here,” Leslie said open-mouthed.

Robert stepped forward and wrapped Tina tightly in his arms. She stood awkwardly as she let him, like she wasn't used to that.

“Why the surprise?” Victor allowed himself to feel smug. They had found them. “Did you think we were gonna leave you?”

“You got the date wrong, you fools,” Leslie lifted a brow coldly and advanced closer to Tina, who drifted away from Robert's hold and leaned towards Leslie. “We've been here since 1960.”

“That explains a lot,“ Victor hummed. They seemed to belong in the 60's. They had had to adapt. “Sorry we are late.”

He didn't waste energy pretending he cared. He had found them, gotten Jonah off his back.

“Wanna explain the kid?” Geoffrey asked. Right, he had ignored that.

“Oh,” they exchanged a nervous look. It was an odd emotion in them. Leslie talked, “This is Elle.”

“Okay…”

“Mommy, who's the man?” Elle mumbled half asleep.

“Just a friend, sweetie,” Leslie said with a soft voice.

“ _ Mommy? _ ” Victor bulged his eyes out in bewilderment. “What, the 60's felt so much like home that you decided to adopt a child?"

“She had no one,” Leslie gritted her teeth, holding the girl closer to her defensively. “Her mother abandoned her, what did you want me to do?"

“I don't know, left her where you found her?” Victor snapped. “She's not coming with us.”

She gasped in horror. ”Don't you dare!”

But Tina leaned towards Leslie, biting her cheeks. “You knew this time would come.”

“I'm not abandoning her,” she glared at Tina, and then at Victor. “So you better have an extra spot in your time machine because if she doesn't come, I won't either.”

“Fine,” he shrugged.

“And I know for a fact that Jonah wouldn't let you go back without me, so you better think this through.”

He narrowed his eyes at Leslie, then looked at Tina, who was observing Leslie with something resembling of pride. They were different, he noted. Jonah wouldn't like that.

“Okay, well played,” Victor sighed. “But the consequences of this are on  _ you _ , you hear me?”

“Then I will handle the consequences.”

Nobody noticed Tina's hand pressing to Leslie's back.

Victor handed them both the watches and they put them on their wrists. He signaled everyone to hold hands. “Hold tight. You might feel a little dizzy after this. You ready?” Everybody nodded. “Alright, then let's go to back to 2014.”

“2014?!” Leslie said and shared an alarmed look with Tina, but they were already traveling through time and space again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! This was sort of an introduction to this series. Soon I'll post two companion pieces to this fic, and if inspiration comes to me, maybe a sequel...?
> 
> Please don't be shy to comment and let me know what you think about it. ;)


End file.
